Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown speaks at the announcement of the name and logo reveal of the city's new North American Soccer League team at the Jacksonville Landing on Tuesday, Feb. 18. Seated, from left, are Bill Peterson, NASL Commissioner, Steve Livingstone Armada FC president and Cole Pepper, emcee of event.

The city’s newest professional sports team will be called Jacksonville Armada FC, beginning play April 2015 in the North American Soccer League.

The team’s name, its logo and its colors — navy blue, royal blue, gold and white — were announced Tuesday morning at The Jacksonville Landing. The name and colors are a nod to the city’s naval heritage as well as its river and ocean setting.

The logo features a stylized anchor on a blue and gold background.

Armada FC president Steve Livingstone said the team will likely begin play at either the University of North Florida stadium or at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.

The ownership group has said it plans to eventually build a soccer-specific stadium that can be expanded if needed.

The NASL, the second tier of professional soccer in the U.S. behind Major League Soccer, awarded teams to Jacksonville and Oklahoma City on July 25. That makes 11 franchises across the US., plus two Canadian teams, in Ottawa and Edmonton.

The NASL has made impressive strides, quickly, said Mike Woitalla, executive editor of the 43-year-old Soccer America magazine.

“There’s a lot of optimism among the NASL,” he said Monday. “People are aware of it, which isn’t that easy to do for a minor-league league in any sport, especially soccer.”

Woitalla said the business model will be tough, particularly with high travel costs. Still, he said, teams that capture diehard young adult fans in their 20s and 30s can succeed; relying on youth soccer players and their parents is not enough.

Some franchises could also become candidates for moving up to MLS, he said. The franchise in San Antonio, Texas, has already said it wants to make that move.

The NASL, though, has had no qualms about directly challenging the more established league.

“Anytime. Anywhere,” said Bill Peterson, the league’s commissioner and a Ponte Vedra resident. He said the league is being built so its teams can play in national and international club-level tournaments, along with league matches.

“We want to be in a place in three or five years where we can line up against anybody and give them a match.”

Mark Frisch, Armada FC owner, is executive vice president of Beaver Street Fisheries, a family business in Jacksonville.

General manager Dario Sala, a one-time professional goalie, played in his native Argentina and then five seasons at FC Dallas in the MLS. Sala said he’ll be looking for players from around the world and the U.S., as well as holding local tryouts for top talent.

He got his professional start after seeing a newspaper ad for a team tryout in Argentina, he said.

Fans submitted more than 1,500 suggestions for the team name. The winner was chosen from among the six most suggested names.

The FC in the name stands for “football club,” an international term that’s taken strong hold in the U.S. as well.

Tim McGugan, creative director of the Bold City Brigade, a Jacksonville Jaguars supporters club, was at the Landing event. He said he expects many of the Brigade’s mostly youthful members to also become Armada FC fans.

After all, they grew up playing soccer on the field and on video games, and watching international soccer on TV, he said. And the football group has already taken cues from soccer.

“The Bold City Brigade kind of modeled ourselves after soccer supporter groups,” McGugan said. “We saw that passion and support they have.”

Frisch has said he’s counting on Jacksonville’s growing interest in soccer.

The city got kudos after more than 44,000 people went to a U.S. men’s national match with Scotland at Everbank Field in 2012. Jacksonville’s now a frontrunner for the U.S. team’s final warm-up game, against Nigeria, before this summer’s World Cup.

Armada FC will play in a league that shares the same name but is not affiliated with the original NASL, a professional league that folded in 1984.

The New York Cosmos, perhaps the highest-profile current team, resurrected the name of the old league’s most famous franchise, which boasted international stars such as Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer and Giorgio Chinaglia.

The NASL has two Florida franchises already, Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Tampa Bay Rowdies. They both also share the names of teams from the old league.

In the early 1980s, Jacksonville had its own NASL team as well — the Tea Men, which brought its name with it when it relocated from the Boston area. That name, however, did not make the cut this time around.

Armada FC is hosting an event for fans at the Landing from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday. Team gear, complete with the new logo, is expected to be available.

Another try at pro soccer? It didn't work before so why do people think it will work now? But then I'm not a soccer fan. I'd rather watch paint dry. For those that support the game I hope it is a success. Good luck.

@Stecker
I suggest you read the book, "How soccer explains the world: An unlikely story of globalization". If you love SEC football, and history like I do, this book will make you a fan of soccer as well. Then read the book, "How football explains America".